A US federal judge has ruled in favour of Blake Lively in her ongoing legal dispute involving It Ends With Us producer Jamey Heath. The judge has ordered Heath to hand over all video footage of his wife Natasha Heath’s childbirth, saying the material should have been shared earlier as part of the discovery process. Read on to know more.
According to court filings from November 17, Judge Lewis J. Liman said the discovery order from the beginning required that Heath provide more than the short clip he said he showed Lively. The judge said any video depicting the childbirth could be used to corroborate Lively’s version of events, thus making it relevant to the case at hand. He further explained that the videos shall remain sealed and well protected, implying they would not appear in public view because of their sensitive nature.
Why Blake Lively Requested the Footage
Blake Lively is accusing Jamey Heath of showing her very graphic childbirth videos on the set during the making of It Ends With Us. She alleges the clip she saw made her uncomfortable and that Heath failed to turn over the full footage when requested by her legal team. Lively asked the court to sanction Heath for withholding the material and also requested that he be blocked from testifying about what he allegedly showed her.
While Judge Liman agreed that Heath must turn over all childbirth footage by November 20, he opted not to sanction him. The judge said Jamey Heath misunderstood the original order but did not willfully disobey it. Because of this, the court decided penalties were unnecessary.
The judge did, however, order Heath to pay the attorneys’ fees Lively incurred for filing this particular motion about the withheld footage. With the video now ordered to be turned over, Blake Lively’s attorneys will get to see the full material for the first time under the court’s protective order. The case continues to move forward with both sides preparing the next steps in the suit.